


The Worm Doth Woo the Mortal, Death Claims a Living Bride

by redbluezero



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: Angst, Regret, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22707670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbluezero/pseuds/redbluezero
Summary: Most days, Shino Asada lives through her life peacefully and without a care in the world. But some days, she has the urge to run to the Motofuji Police Station and give Shouichi Shinkawa a piece of her mind.
Kudos: 3





	The Worm Doth Woo the Mortal, Death Claims a Living Bride

**Author's Note:**

> Started writing this a while ago to challenge myself to write something canon-compliant, figured I’d finish it now because it takes place on Valentine’s Day 2026. The title is a line from Emily Dickinson’s poem, Valentine’s Day 1850. I think it fits canon Kyoushino very well.

It was a chilly Saturday afternoon, so the thermostat was turned up. The rickety churning of the heater was the only noise in the small apartment. Shino Asada lay still on her bed, until finally, a finger twitched. Then another, and another, and she was back in the real world. Having just logged out of  _ ALO _ , she felt a bit dazed when she opened her eyes. Her senses took longer than usual to return. The floating feeling remained even after pressing the log out button. That was weird.

_ No, it isn’t, you idiot. You know why this is happening. _

She snatched her AmuSphere from her head and threw it down onto the mattress with gusto. The old springs creaked, sending a vibration throughout the pipe frame. She clenched her fist around the metal ring, the adjusting mechanism poking into her palm, before realizing there was a possibility she’d break it. Almost frightened, she pulled her hand away from the machine. She needed to work on her temper, still; the last thing she wanted was to break her gaming device. It was too precious to her.

_ Because you got it with him. It was the first time you hung out. _

Shino had to hold herself back before she attempted to break anything else. However, she also needed her mind to shut up. So, she stumbled over to her refrigerator. The lights in the apartment were dimmed for full-diving purposes, so when she pulled the door open, she was taken aback by the brightness. Faced with near emptiness, she sighed and pulled the last mineral water bottle out from the fridge. The grooves on the cap hurt her palms, but she managed to open it. Immediately, she took a quick swig. The bubbles tingled with a painful sensation. It was enough to clear her thoughts, and make space for new ones. Such as what to make for dinner, and what ingredients to buy. Good, rational thoughts.

_ You’ll be eating alone for a while now. Couldn’t keep your promise.  _

Fuck, only thirty seconds had gone by and the thoughts were back. Shino chugged more water until only two droplets were left. She breathed deeply, trying to find peace. She had been playing video games with her new friends to block out the thoughts, logging in first so she could avoid them. But Suguha, Kazuto’s brother, had kendo practice in the afternoons. The fairytale world of distractions couldn’t last forever. She didn’t expect the thoughts to come back immediately after logging out, though; that sucked.

_ Today’s big for two reasons, isn’t it? And you don’t like the outcome of either one. _

It had been exactly two months since Shino’s only friend at the time, Kyouji Shinkawa, attacked her. He’d since been locked behind bars, awaiting trial. He hadn’t truly done anything, she firmly believed, at least not of his own volition. So she figured he’d confess his side of the story and get things over with quickly. But according to the people managing his case, he refused to talk. Not to counselors, not to lawyers, and definitely not to Shino. In fact, every morning, she would check her email to see if Mr. Kikuoka got back to her about her friend’s visiting status. It had become a ritual at that point in her life; wake up, check phone, get ready for school. It had also become the norm for her hope to shatter.

_ You thought maybe today would be the day he opened up to you again, right? _

She was starting to get annoyed; there was so much she needed to do, to say. But the wall between them had taken a physical form too, of brick and concrete. Even if Kyouji had the strength to utter words, Shino would not be able to hear him. For no matter how much she begged the officers outside, they wouldn’t let her through. She was starting to detest the police force, which had once been the job she aimed for in life. Everything was ruined, ruined, ruined! And whose fault was that?

_ Mine. _

Shino shook her head; she had to stop blaming herself, it wasn’t healthy. It wouldn’t fix anything, either. She couldn’t wallow in regret, no matter how used to doing so she was. That was another change that she needed to get used to, even though change was generally hard for her to accept. However, that brought up the issue of anger again. And anger told her to blame, not herself, but someone else. Anger told her that someone had wormed their way into Kyouji’s mind, and that person was… 

_ Shouichi. Shouichi, you fucking bastard. _

Shino swiped her phone off of her nightstand and opened up her email drafts. Sitting at the top was a month old message that she had yet to deliver. The recipient would be Mr. Kikuoka, and the title was “Visiting Hours”. Of course, Shino knew that Kyouji would not speak to her that day. But the email was not about a visit with him; rather, one with his brother. The nefarious Shouichi Shinkawa. She had typed up the bland email almost immediately after the Death Gun incident, but deleted it. However, she retyped it again the next week, and again, and again, until deleting it became too tedious and she let it sit in the drafts folder.

Every so often, Shino was hit with the furious urge to click “send”. The very thought riled her up so much that her heart would beat fast in her chest.  _ Tmp, tmp, tmp _ , she could feel it in her hands and through her phone. Her fingers trembled, wavering back and forth between sending the email or not. Sure, she angered fairly easily, but her rage toward Shouichi was unrivaled by anything she’d ever felt before. It was only one click away, one click away, and she could give that vile man a piece of her mind—

“I probably shouldn’t do that…” Shino mumbled, her low voice shaking. She set her phone face down on the tea table, and took a deep breath. She breathed in as much as she could, even when her lungs told her she couldn’t take any more air, and then let out a hefty sigh. If the drafted email for Mr. Kikuoka was a kid from her elementary school, then sending it would be giving him a bloody nose. It was a memory from her childhood she was able to laugh about now, but nonetheless, it was a lesson to not let frustration get the best of her.

She wouldn’t even know what to say to Shouichi if her visiting request was accepted. Her thoughts about him were barely coherent, rather just a jumble of disbelief, hatred, and fear. If she tried to speak to him, her voice would probably come out warbled. She couldn’t beat him to a pulp either, there would be a wall between them in the jail, but that was a bad idea to begin with. Overall, it wasn’t worth the trouble. There was no point in visiting Shouichi, not even for the sake of getting to know the Shinkawa family. Not like she wanted to, anyway, but then that brought back the blame game. Well, whatever.

Shino stretched her arms out in front of her, rolled her neck, and went back to her phone. But instead of tapping “send”, she tapped “delete”. She’d most likely rewrite it the next time she got overwhelmed, but not having the email in her drafts folder was better for her health. So instead, she drafted a new email, one asking Mr. Kikuoka for a check-in on Kyouji’s situation. She thought that the government official was suspicious, ever since Kazuto pointed it out, but he seemed kind enough to hear her out if her thoughts got overwhelming. He was sympathetic enough to let her bug him about Kyouji all the time, anyway.

After sending the new email, Shino pressed a different button to return to the homescreen of her phone. She swiped the screen idly, for distraction. But as she did, she caught a glimpse of the date: February 14th. A small reminder of the “holiday” blinked in her notifications. She hadn’t confronted that fact until now, as it brought such sweet sorrow.

Because she knew that, in one of countless alternate universes, there was a different Shino Asada. A Shino who was in a coffee shop, smiling as she handed over chocolates. And sitting across from her was a different Kyouji Shinkawa, just as happy, promising to pay her back double on White Day.

**Author's Note:**

> References:  
> Wormed into his mind- Direct quote from the light novel.  
> Countless alternate universes- Paraphrased quote from the light novel.


End file.
